Abstract
A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between non-occupational physical activity (PA) during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth (PTB). By searching PubMed and EMBASE from inception to August 20, 2016, 25 observational studies (18 cohorts and 7 case-controls) and 12 interventional studies were identified. Comparing the highest to the lowest category of leisure-time PA during pregnancy, the pooled relative risk (RR) of PTB was 0.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.74–0.93] for cohort studies and 0.60 (95% CI = 0.43–0.84) for case-control studies. No overall significant association was found between domestic or commuting PA and the risk of PTB. In addition, PA intervention did not indicate significant beneficial effect on the risk of PTB. Evidence from the observational studies suggested that leisure-time, but not domestic or commuting, PA during pregnancy was inversely associated with the risk of PTB. The findings were not supported by small-scale and short-term interventional studies. Further research with objective measurement on leisure-time PA is warranted.
Highlights
A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between non-occupational physical activity (PA) during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth (PTB)
189 studies were excluded for one of the following reasons: (1) not an original study; (2) not in English; (3) occupational population, such as nurses, military personnel, physicians; (4) no information on the association of interest and such information cannot be derived from available data; (5) no regular measurement in PA; or (6) duplicated publication
In the meta-analysis of observational studies, we found a significant inverse association of leisure-time PA during pregnancy with the risk of Preterm birth (PTB)
Summary
A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between non-occupational physical activity (PA) during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth (PTB). No overall significant association was found between domestic or commuting PA and the risk of PTB. Evidence from the observational studies suggested that leisure-time, but not domestic or commuting, PA during pregnancy was inversely associated with the risk of PTB. Two studies[7,8] evaluated PA as a single score of energy expenditure including occupational, leisure-time, and domestic PA and found it was not significantly associated with the risk of PTB. The associations of non-occupational PA, including leisure-time, domestic, and commuting PA, with the risk of PTB have not been systematically evaluated.
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